Microsoft Word malformed pointer vulnerability

Overview

A vulnerability in Microsoft Word could allow an attacker to compromise a vulnerable system.

Description

Data used by Microsoft Word to construct a destination address for a memory copy routine is embedded within a Word document itself. If an attacker constructs a Word document with a specially crafted value used to build this destination address, then that attacker may be able to overwrite arbitrary memory.

An attacker could trigger this vulnerability by convincing a user to open a specially crafted Word document.

Exploit code for this vulnerability is publicly available.

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Impact

The specific consequences of this vulnerability are unclear, but may include execution of arbitrary code and denial of service.

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Solution

Apply Update for Microsoft
Microsoft has addressed this vulnerability in Microsoft Security Bulletin MS07-014.

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Do not open untrusted Word documents

Do not open unfamiliar or unexpected Word or other Office documents, particularly those hosted on web sites or delivered as email attachments. Please see Cyber Security Tip ST04-010.**

Do not rely on file name extension filtering**

In most cases, Windows will call Word to open a document even if the document has an unknown file extension. For example, if document.qwer contains the correct file header information, Windows will open document.qwer with Word. Filtering for common extensions (e.g., .doc, and .dot) will not detect all Word documents. **

Disable automatic opening of Microsoft Office documents**

By default, Microsoft Office 97 and Microsoft Office 2000 will configure Internet Explorer to automatically open Microsoft Office documents. This feature can be disabled by using the Office Document Open Confirmation Tool. Mozilla Firefox users should disable automatic opening of files, as specified in the Securing Your Web Browser document.

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Vendor Information

996892

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Microsoft Corporation __ Affected

Updated: February 13, 2007

Status

Affected

Vendor Statement

We have not received a statement from the vendor.

Vendor Information

The vendor has not provided us with any further information regarding this vulnerability.

Addendum

Refer to <http://www.microsoft.com/technet/security/Bulletin/MS07-014.mspx&gt;

If you have feedback, comments, or additional information about this vulnerability, please send us [email](<mailto:[email protected]?Subject=VU%23996892 Feedback>).

OpenOffice.org Affected

Updated: January 02, 2007

Status

Affected

Vendor Statement

We have not received a statement from the vendor.

Vendor Information

The vendor has not provided us with any further information regarding this vulnerability.

CVSS Metrics

Group	Score	Vector
Base
Temporal
Environmental

References

• <http://blogs.technet.com/msrc/archive/2006/12/15/update-on-current-word-vulnerability-reports.aspx&gt;
• <http://research.eeye.com/html/alerts/zeroday/20061212.html&gt;
• <http://www.microsoft.com/technet/security/bulletin/ms07-014.mspx&gt;

Acknowledgements

This vulnerability was publicly disclosed by disco.

This document was written by Jeff Gennari.

Other Information

CVE IDs:	CVE-2006-6561
Severity Metric:	11.00 Date Public: